Washing machine



Dec. 16, 1958 B. A. BUSS 2,864,526 WASHING MACHINE Filed Dec. 20, 1954BY Pm nm NEY-S WASHING MACHINE Benjamin Alvin Buss, East Moline, Ill.,assignor to American Machine and Metals, Inc., New York, N. Y., acorporation of Delaware This invention relates to a washing machine orthe like and especially the closure means or doors for the accessopening in the casing of the washing machine.

Commercial washing machines used to wash clothes and similar articlesusually embody a stationary shell or casing and a rotatable oroscillating cylinder within the shell, the cylinder being perforatedandholding clothes during the various washing operations. The shell andcylinder must be provided with access openings to permit the easyinsertion and removal of the wash and these openings are equipped withclosures or doors.

In many instances, it is desirable to provide for access to the machineselectively'from the side and top, unloading taking place from the sideand loading from the top. A single door for closing such a large accessopening for the shell is not satisfactory for many reasons. Onedifficulty is that the door would be so long in its direction ofmovement that its movement could not be accommodated on the shell.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide an arrangement forclosing a washing machine aperture which will permit access to the shellfrom the side or top thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved closure forthe shell of a washing machine or the like which can be employed inconjunction with a shell or casing having a large access opening, yetbeing of such construction as to be easily operable to open such openingso that the machine can be loaded from the top and unloaded from theside. t

In one aspect of the invention, the arrangement for the access apertureproviding for side and top access may comprise a plurality of doors ofarcuate shape slidably mounted upon the shell. In order to make itpossible to open the doors for either side access or top access, thedoor means can have interengaging means therebetween so that furthermovement of the side access door in the opening direction will causemovement of the top access door to open the access aperture in the topdirection. Thus, the aperture can be opened or closed by one dooroperating movement. It should be apparent that the terms side and topinclude directions that are angularly spaced but are other thanprecisely at the top or side of the machine, the access aperture beingof restricted circumferential or arcuate extent relative to the shell.

Other advantages. objects and features of the invention will becomeapparent from the following description, and drawings which are merelyexemplary.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a washing machine having its shell doorsin closed position; and

Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse section with both shell doors in closedposition.

The door arrangement can be used on various types of machines, oneexample being the Washing machine described hereinafter. The shell 10may have an access aperture 11 extending from approximately a horizontalStates Patent iceledge 12 to a margin 13 which is slightly beyond thevertical center line AA, side access being in the general direction ofarrow 14 and top access from the general direction of arrow 15.

The clothes holding cylinder 16 is of the conventional type which mayberotated or oscillated, said cylinder having suitable perforationstherein and a conventional access door 17. Access door 17 ismovable fromthe closed position shown in full lines in Fig. 2 to the opened positionillustrated in dotted lines 18. A division plate 19 may be provided,said division plate being attached to transverse partitions in thecylinder or to the ends thereof. The machine may be mounted on endsupports. 20 and may have the usual dump valve enclosing structure 21 atthe bottom of the shell.

Doors 22 and 23 are slidably mounted on the outside of the shell orcasing 10 in such a manner that the door 23 is slidable relative to theoutside of the shell, the side access door 22 being slidable relative totop access door 23. Said doors may have their edges suitably guided inchannels or the like. The .door 22 is equipped with a rear shoulder 24located along its uppermost edge, the shoulder being arranged to contactthe front'shoulder 25 of the top access door 23. V

The shoulder 25 of door 23 extends both above and below the doorsurface. The portion extending above the door provides an abutment to becontacted by the shoulder 24, and the portion extending below the doorpresents an abutment to contact the raised margin 13 oi the shell 10.The latter means prevent door 23 from sliding along the upper rearportion of the shell beyond the fully opened position of the doors;

Door 22 is provided with a flange 26 at its lowermost or front portionwhich is arranged to fit inside a lip 27 formed along the horizontalledge 12 of the shell 10. Door 22 is arranged to have a tight fitagainst lip 27 to prevent any leakage of fluid from the machine at thispoint.

When door 22 has been moved in the opening direction, so that flange 26contacts the shoulder 25 of the door 23, further movement of door 22will cause door 23 also to be moved along with door 22 toward a fullyopen position. Thus, after flange 26 contacts the shoulder 25 of thedoor 23, door 22 transmits any additional opening movement directly todoor 23.

Shoulder 28 is provided at the rearmost margin of door 23 so as to makecontact with the raised margin 13 of the shell when the doors are movedin the closing direction, thereby stopping the movement of the door 23in the proper relationship with the shell and the door 22. Gaskets 29and 30 are provided between the shoulders 24 and 25 and shoulders 13 and28, respectively, to prevent leakage of fluid between the members.Handle 31 can be provided on door 22.

It is to be seen that according to this invention the large accessaperture 11 extending from lip 27 to margin 13 is available so thatthere may be access to the machine either from the side or from the top.In many commercial installations, it is desirable that a washer beequipped with an access door arrangement so that it can be loadedautomatically from a chute located above the machine and unloaded fromthe side. If the machine is to be loaded from the top, the cylinder 16is stopped in such a position that its aperture faces upwardly towardthe arrow 15. When access to the machine is desired only from the side,the cylinder is brought to the position shown in Fig. 2 and only door 22opened.

The doors 22 and 23 when in fully retracted position do not extendcircumferentially around the outside of the casing 10 to such'an extentthat a middle leg, flanges of a split top, pipe connections, etc., wouldinterfere with complete opening. Further, it should be apparent that itwill be easier to manipulate the doors as shown than would be the casewitha single door.

When the doors are in fully opened position, the first movement of door22 in the closing direction will move it alone, door 23 not being moveddirectly by the operator at first, but being moved by shoulder 24 of thedoor 22 contacting the upper part of shoulder 25 of the door 23. By thetime shoulders 24 and 25 have come into contact, the door 22 has moved'approximately halfway toward its closed position, so that when door 23is moved by the shoulder 24', door 22 is in. a position so that thegravitational e'tfect upon door 22 may be of assistance in moving ofdoor 23.

To operate the access doors, the operator grasps handle 31 of the door22 and moves it upwardly so as to lift door 22 until it iscircumferentially aligned with the door 23. When door 22 is in thisposition, the machine may be unloaded or loadedfrom the side, andfurther movement of the access door is optional.

When it is desired to load the machine from the top, such as by means ofa chute, the operator continues to move the door 22 in the openingdirection, such continued movement being responsible for movement ofdoor 23 in the opening direction. The doors can be moved until theyreside entirely at oneside of the access opening, and resting upon theupper rear portion of the casing 10.

When it is desired to close the doors, the handle 31 is pulled towardthe operator. When door 22 is approximately half-way toward its closedposition, it picks up the door 23, the two doors then being moved as aunit into the position in which the aperture 11 is fully closed.

It should be understood that variations may be made in the details ofconstruction without departing from the spirit of the invention exceptas defined in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

In a washing machine having a horizontal shell of generally cylindricalconfiguration with an aperture for providing access from the side forunloading purposes and the top for loading purposes, and a clothesholding cylinder rotatably mounted within said shell and being providedwith a closeable opening adapted to be positioned opposite saidaperture, the combination including first door means of 'arcuate shapefor closing access to the side of said shell, said first door meansbeing entirely in front of the vertical center line of said shell andbeing substantially above the horizontal center line thereof when inclosed position, second door means of arcuate shape for closing accessto the top of said shell, said second door means having one edge oneither side of the vertical center line of said shell when in closedposition, whereby said second door is in a balanced condition when inits closed position, means on said shell holding said arcuate doorsthereon in circumferential telescopic sliding relationship to eachother, shoulder means along the lower edge of said second door, shouldermeans along the upper edge of said first door in overlappingrelationship with said second door and engageable with said shouldermeans along the lower edge of said second door so that said second doorwill be moved with said first door as the first door is moved towardclosed position from fully opened position, lip means on said shell andshoulder means along the rear edge of the second door engageable withsaid lip means on said shell for stopping said second door as it reachesclosed position, said first door being slidable relative to the seconddoor when the second door is in closed position so as to provide acccessfrom the side of said shell.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSl,295,830 Lane Feb. 25, 1919 1,295,561 Moore Feb. 25, 1919 1,803,662Carroll et al May 5, 1931 2,038,066 Strobridge Apr. 21, 1936 2,057,070Strobridge Oct. 13, 1936 2,371,764 Leger Mar. 20, 1945

